We’re certainly not lacking political drama these days, most of it pointless. But the late-night Senate vote on the “skinny bill” regarding health care was poignant.
John McCain is facing brain cancer and the aging senator’s days in the Capitol probably aren’t long, not with that diagnosis. But it seemed fitting that a man with a life-threatening illness would cast the deciding vote on the Republican plan to repeal Obamacare. It seemed appropriate to have a person who has just had a major confrontation with his own mortality tip the scales one way or another on the healthcare of the country.
If McCain voted “Yes,” then the mandate on individuals to buy insurance would have been over. But insurance companies would still be required to accept the sick. This is an economically impossible combination. You can’t have both. Insurance companies would have jacked up rates astronomically to cover the loss of income from the mandates to cover those they must accept. They would have no choice. This would have forced millions more out of the system due to the rate hikes. The spiral toward complete collapse would have accelerated. If McCain voted “No,” then he would face the wrath of his party and take on the identity as the Republican savior of Obamacare, hardly something any Republican wants.
He voted to take his political lumps and say “No.”
Republicans in Congress bemoan the fact that they didn’t pass something, as if any change was a step in the right direction. But their failure to do so is actually better for the party politically than if they passed the “skinny bill,” which would have been a disaster, sending the private insurance system into a full-on implosion and many more people into health and financial nightmares. This actually would be the fastest path to universal coverage. And it would energize Democrats in a way Republicans would hate. Yes, it’s a humiliation for Republicans to have all the power and still get nothing done. But if they passed a repeal with no plan behind it, then they would have accepted complete ownership of our broken car and then set that car on fire and asked us all to pile in. I think Republicans in the Capitol knew this, too. So, they had to weigh the political consequences of a terrible plan (that included no real plan) or doing nothing with your power (which makes you look ineffectual).
McCain voted not to strip millions of health care. He also voted not to tank his party. I doubt many agree with me there. But I think it’s plain as day. In the long haul, providing a functional health care system for millions is a politically winning plan. We’re certainly not there, but the “skinny bill” was the opposite of that. It was a vote to make life harder for millions, which is a loser of a plan. Republicans in Congress seemed set on the short-term political appearances toward their base, rather than looking at the opening they would provide to Democrats for universal coverage later. Voting for the “skinny bill” would have been disastrous for the GOP in the long-term.
All of this makes me so ill. I’ve said repeatedly that I think universal coverage is truly the way to go, with private insurance serving as supplemental help for those who can afford more of a Cadillac plan. Most industrialized nations have universal coverage. I think pricing could be set within basic ranges for services depending on cost-of-living ratios. For instance, appendix surgery should have an expected dollar value, though it may cost slightly more in areas where everything else is more expensive. But we can’t seem to focus on such things. We’re too tied up in divisive politics to address such practical matters.
Our nation has drifted into such a dysfunctional state that we can’t agree on up and down. We are so bitter that we seem eager to hurt ourselves just to pain our enemies. And if you aren’t able to diagnose this, let me do it for you: it’s a cancer. We have cancer as a country. This cancer makes us wobbly on our feet and undermines everything about us, our reasoning, our emotions, our care for one another.
I’m thankful McCain, a man with grave cancer, could see this national malignancy and not be blinded by it. He will be remembered for many things. And this will be one of his lasting legacies. He stood in the Capitol with fresh wounds and voted not to gouge millions. That was surely not easy for him politically, but I’m glad he saw it as a necessity and he acted accordingly. That’s what political courage looks like. And we need more of it.
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Zach Mitcham is editor of The Madison County Journal, a sister publication of the Barrow News-Journal.

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